Study: Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines appear safe, effective

Two vaccines made by China’s Sinopharm appear to be safe and effective against COVID-19, according to a study published in a medical journal

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Two vaccines made by China’s Sinopharm appear safe and effective against COVID-19, according to a study published in a medical journal. Scientists had been waiting for more details about the two vaccines, even though they already are being used in many countries, and one recently won the backing of the World Health Organization for emergency use. The report, published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded the two vaccines are about 73% and 78% effective, as Sinopharm has previously claimed. Researchers from Sinopharm and its local partners in the Middle East say the trial involved around 40,380 participants with the company's two vaccines -- one developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products — and a placebo. The trial was carried out in four countries — Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. However, the study provided data for just Bahrain and the UAE.